Pirate Party

Saturday was our latest pirate party. This time we went out to my parents house so we could have more people and a slightly more kid-friendly environment. We had a few new people, besides my family, so that was lots of fun too. Sometimes I wish that we could just invite tons and tons of people because it would be fun to see everybody dress up like pirates and try their hands at feats of skill and danger. The kids that we have right now are just a little too young to have things for them to do besides play around, but next year we will have to plan things for them to do too.

Since it was over dinner, I made a potato stew and everyone else brought things to share. I also made a cake decorated like a pirate flag. The stew was an adventure because I had never made stew for that many people before. I didn't know precise quantities or how long it would take to cook, but it turned out delicious and was ready on time.

The chocolate cake with chocolate icing was an adventure too. Baking the cake was easy, but I had trouble getting the cake out of the pan. I had greased and floured the pan like you are supposed to, but it didn't want to come out. Eventually it did flop out, but left the bottom layer in the pan. I then made some icing... I think from now on, I will buy icing. It didn't turn out very well. You may ask, "how can you ruin icing? It is the easiest thing to make." Well, I found a way to mess it all up. It wouldn't spread, so I ended up piecing it with my fingers like fondant. The white decoration was easy though, and everyone thought it looked good too. And Thomas said it tasted wonderful, and that was what mattered the most.

We tried a few games. The worst one was trying to push someone off a plank into the ocean, but it turned out to be too easy. We had a three-legged race, which Mom and Dad won. They were amazing, and really cute too. Kate and I did really well, and I think we tied for second with another pair of girls. The boys...did fine, and it was fun watching them fall down, trip over each other, mess-up timing and loose the race. hehehe The final game was the human knot. It was a little awkward, but I enjoyed it all the same, but we couldn't completely untie ourselves because we were in two circles completely mixed up. Once one of the circles got solved and let go, then the other circle was easily solved.

We didn't get any group pictures, but I tried to get at least one picture of everybody. When I get them developed I will share them. The only downside to such fun is that baby pirates need to get to bed, so these fun times can't go on as long as they used to. Also, we had to clean the house because Mom was having guests the next day. But I hope everyone had fun. I know I did.